A husband and wife have been arrested in a child abuse investigation that centered on a home in Arcadia where authorities said nearly two dozen children had been living, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday.
Los Angeles County prosecutors scheduled a news conference for late Tuesday morning to discuss the case. The FBI said it is executing a federal search warrant at the residence.
Police focused in on the property after receiving a child abuse allegation in May 2025. During the investigation, detectives discovered that nearly two dozen children, from 2 months to 13 years old, had been living inside the home.
Some of the 21 children were born through different surrogates, police said. Police have said they are investigating whether the children found at the home were part of a surrogacy scam.
Police responded to at least six 911 calls at the San Gabriel Valley home since January 2022, according to the documents obtained through a records request. Police may have responded to more 911 calls, but several calls were redacted from the documents.
One year ago Friday, police responded to a welfare check at the home, according to the documents obtained by NBCLA. The records also indicated there were calls from people who suspected an illegal business was operating at the property.
It is not clear how many children at the home were born to surrogate mothers, but one of the mothers was found in Texas by a bioethics watchdog group. The woman said she was misled into thinking her child was the only child who would be taken in at the Arcadia residence.
Arcadia police said the home was set up like a school. Cameras seized from the property showed the children being emotionally and physically abused by at least six nannies, according to law enforcement. Authorities said the video showed a nanny violently shaking and striking the hospitalized infant on May 5, resulting in a loss of consciousness.